Selection camps ran December 11-13 in High Prairie, and saw athletes (71 forwards, 30 defensemen, 19 goalies) turn out to compete for a spot with Team Alberta North.

"We saw some very talented individuals at this year’s selection camp," said Blake Cosgrove, Regional Centre Northwest Consultant for Hockey Alberta. "Selecting just 17 athletes was quite difficult, but we’re excited with the group that we’ll be sending to the Arctic Winter Games in March."

Female selection camp is set to run January 8-10 in Slave Lake.

The Arctic Winter Games are the world’s largest northern multi-sport and cultural event. The Arctic Winter Games are a celebration of athletic completion, culture, friendship and cooperation between northern contingents. Athletic competition features sports that enjoy worldwide popularity alongside traditional Arctic Sports and dene Games. A significant cultural component featuring visual arts, dance, ceremonies and galas with participants from across the circumpolar region is a pillar of the Games.

Each hockey team is comprised of 17 players and two coaches. Teams participate in a round-robin tournament to determine seeding for medal-round pairings. One gold ulu is awarded in each age/sex class. Teams that regularly participate in ice hockey include Alaska, Yukon, Alberta North, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Peewee teams across Alberta have the opportunity to benefit from the a new grassroots program – the Chevrolet Power of Play program.

Each Peewee team that registers for the program receives a free Chevrolet coach’s kit that includes game pucks, and laces and tape featuring words of inspiration from Ryan Smyth, Daniel Brière, Zach Fucale, Tyler McGregor, Natalie Spooner, Caroline Ouellette and Tom Renney. The aim of the kit is to help coaches impart the important values that helped these great Canadians become better people on and off the ice. Every kit is a premium coach’s hockey bag that comes with 25 pairs of laces, 25 rolls of stick tape, 20 pucks and 20 Most Inspirational Player Awards.

The Most Inspiration Player award recognizes and celebrates those actions and behaviors that reflect the values commemorated on the laces and tape in the kit as demonstrated by individual players on a team. It can be awarded after a game, during or after a practice or even after off-ice team activity. The award includes a game puck and customized rubber case that goes around the puck and memorializes the inspirational quality that the player displayed to receive the award. Each team receives enough awards for every player on the team to be recognized at least once during the season.

Also included in every coach’s kit is a starter tape ball, made from used tape from the 2016 National Junior Team, National Women’s Team and National Sledge Team. Minor hockey teams will be encouraged to add to it and the team that creates the biggest tape ball will receive $10,000 ($5,000 of which will go to that team’s minor hockey association). There are also smaller prizes being awarded to teams in each branch at the end of the year. At the end of the season, Chevrolet will be collecting all the tape balls to create one massive monument that will travel between the tournament venues in Montreal and Toronto during next year’s World Junior Tournament.

Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada are pleased to announce the launch of the Hockey Canada Network.

This innovative coaching tool puts a variety of digital coaching assets at your fingertips. Coaches and players are provided with the tools to succeed through on-demand access to the Hockey Canada Skills Manuals, in addition to thousands of drills, skills, videos, practice plans and much more.

We are pleased to be able to provide registered Hockey Alberta coaches with a promo code that will permit you to visit the Hockey Canada Network website and purchase a discounted access code that will allow you to register your Hockey Canada Network APP for a one-year subscription.

The Hockey Canada Network is available for Android and iOS devices. Download the APP for free from Google Play or the Apple APP Store to start exploring videos and articles. Coaches will have unlimited access to the full library of regularly updated content and features by creating a profile and entering an access code.

When visiting http://www.hockeycanadanetwork.com, just insert the promo code HACERT2015. Once your purchase is complete you will receive an access code which is to be used to validate the APP for one year. Once the access code is entered, you will have full access to all to resources and tools currently available on the Hockey Canada Network.

If you experience any difficulties in accessing the Hockey Canada Network, please go to the website at http://www.hockeycanadanetwork.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the SUPPORT link, or check out the FAQ section to find an answer to your issue.

Hockey Alberta’s Coach of the Month for November 2015 is Darcy Warawa of Lacombe.

Darcy is an Assistant Coach for both the Lacombe Initiation Red Rockets, and the Lacombe Tim Horton’s Bears. His coaching background goes back nearly 20 years. He’s served as a baseball coach at the community, Team Alberta, Junior National Team and International level. This is his first season coaching Minor Hockey, as both his sons decided to give the sport a try this year.

"I believe that coaching at the youth level is about teaching sport and life skills through fun games and activities," said Darcy. "Creating smiles, laughter and providing sincere encouragement are definitely part of building a positive sport environment for them."

"He (Darcy) focuses on making the game enjoyable for our players," said the Head Coach of the Lacombe Red Rockets, who nominated Darcy for Coach of the Month. "On the ice he is constantly giving the kids encouragement and tips to keep playing and enjoy the game."

Hockey fans will have the opportunity to watch teams pursue a 2016 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championship, presented by ATB Financial, as tournaments will be hosted in communities across the entire province - at locations ranging from High Level in the north and Taber in the south, to Provost in the east and Grande Prairie in the west.

The sponsorship and hosting announcements were made on December 15 during a media conference at the Red Deer Arena.

“We are pleased to welcome ATB Financial as the presenting sponsor for the 2016 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships which are staple events in the month of March for everyone in the province’s hockey community. Hockey Alberta has been fortunate to partner with ATB Financial for the past few years. We believe that ATB and the Provincial Championships are a natural fit, as thousands of people across the province are involved in ensuring that the participants have memories that last a lifetime,” said Rob Litwinski, Executive Director of Hockey Alberta.

As the presenting sponsor of the Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships, ATB Financial is continuing a longstanding relationship with Hockey Alberta that has included support of the Team Alberta program.

“Playing in the provincials is every young hockey player’s goal at the start of each season,” said John Windwick, ATB’s Vice President, Community Initiatives. “We can’t wait to see the smiles on the players’ faces when they arrive at the championship tournaments across the province. We’ll definitely do our part to make sure it’s a special experience for everyone involved, including the parents, officials and volunteers who make these events possible.”

Hockey Alberta’s month-long “March to a title” features provincial championship tournament action during four weekends in March, along with four champions crowned through league playoff series. Organizations interested in hosting a provincial championship tournament completed a detailed bid process, with a bid committee evaluating the submissions.

The majority of teams competing in minor Provincial Championship tournaments qualify by winning a zone playdown. Playdowns start in mid-January across the province, with up to 1,000 teams vying for the right to represent their zone at the provincial championships. Host teams receive an automatic berth in the championship they are hosting, although they do participate in zone playdowns, and have the opportunity to win their zone title.

For Midget Female AAA, Midget AAA Minor, and Bantam Female AAA, championship tournaments are held to conclude league playoffs. The following provincial champions will be decided via league playoffs: Senior AAA, Junior A, Midget AAA, and Bantam AAA.

Hosts for the following events are still being reviewed: Senior Female, Midget A, Bantam A, Bantam Female B, and Peewee Female B.

Provincial championship weekend in a dozen communities will also have a unique off-ice component. For the third year, Tundra Process Solutions is sponsoring True Spirit of Hockey Day events that will connect Provincial Championships and local schools, allowing students to learn about the excitement, teamwork and friendships that can be generated in the sport of hockey. Through a schedule of planned activities at each school, students will learn the rules of the game, engage with their classmates, and learn the importance of teamwork and skill development.

True Spirit of Hockey Day events will be held in conjunction with Provincial Championships hosted by Springbank, Oyen, Taber, High Prairie, High Level, Fort McMurray, Foothills, Drayton Valley, Grimshaw, Lacombe, Duchess, and Innisfail.

RED DEER – Ten volunteers and two staff members have been recognized by Hockey Alberta for five or 10 consecutive years of leadership in providing excellent service to the hockey community in Alberta.

Service award recipients were announced as part of Hockey Alberta’s semi-annual meeting on November 28 in Red Deer.

Terry Engen, chair of the Board of Directors for Hockey Alberta, and Executive Director Rob Litwinski made presentations to seven of the recipients. The other five will be presented with their awards at a later date.

RED DEER – The eight female hockey teams that will battle it out at the 2016 Alberta Winter Games are now set.

The player rosters for the eight zone teams in the female competition, along with the staff for each team, were announced on December 8. The teams will compete against each other at the 2016 Alberta Winter Games in Medicine Hat, February 13-16.

Teams were selected to represent each of the province’s zones: Sunny South, Big Country, Calgary, Parkland, Yellowhead/Blackgold, Edmonton, Northeast and Peace Country. Each team includes two goalies, six defense, and 12 forwards. Team staff includes a head coach, two assistant coaches, a coach mentor, and a director of hockey operations.

Roughly 600 2001-2004 born players attended zone selection camps held at locations across the province, December 4-6.

“We were very impressed with the turn-out we saw this past weekend at every zone camp,” said Mike Kraichy, manager of Team Alberta. “We’d also like to thank all the volunteers who came out for these camps, as well as the male camps the previous weekend. We couldn’t do it without them.”

The Alberta Winter Games is a multi-sport event for developing athletes, aged 11-17 years old. The Winter Games were first hosted in 1976 in Banff, and occur each even-numbered year. The athletes are selected to represent the eight zones in Alberta in 20 sports such as hockey, badminton, gymnastics, skiing and skating.

Hockey Alberta coordinates the ice hockey portion of the Winter Games, as a core segment of its Development Program. The Winter Games provide players, coaches, trainers and referees an opportunity to discover the great qualities of competitive hockey starting with the zone camp and selection process, through to competing in the Games.

RED DEER - Hockey Alberta has released a new video resource for its Initiation Program to provide information and direction to local MHAs, coaches, and parents.

Based on Hockey Canada’s Long Term Player Development (LTPD) model, players who are six years old and younger should be focusing on having fun, learning skills and developing physical literacy. The ultimate goal of this level of hockey is to make the first impression of hockey a positive one for all players and parents.

The Initiation game format, sees games played on a reduced playing surface, was showcased at the "Shrink the Rink" event in Lloydminster in October.

The player rosters for the eight zone teams in the male competition, along with the staff for each team, were announced on December 2. The teams will compete against each other at the 2016 Alberta Winter Games in Medicine Hat, February 13-16.

Teams were selected to represent each of the province’s zones: Sunny South, Big Country, Calgary, Parkland, Yellowhead/ Blackgold, Edmonton, Northeast and Peace Country. Each team includes two goalies, six defense, and 12 forwards. Team staff includes a head coach, two assistant coaches, a coach mentor, and a director of hockey operations.

Just under 800 2003-born players attended zone selection camps held at locations across the province, November 27-29.

"We’re very impressed with the level of talent displayed at this year’s selection camps," said Dustin Moore, coordinator for Team Alberta. "Choosing just 20 players for each team is never easy, but we’re excited for these athletes to take a big step forward in their development and take part in a provincial event like the Alberta Winter Games."

Zone selection camps for female players are set for this weekend, December 4-6. Female team rosters will be announced later next week.

The Alberta Winter Games is a multi-sport event for developing athletes, aged 11-17 years old. The Winter Games were first hosted in 1976 in Banff, and occur each even-numbered year. The athletes are selected to represent the eight zones in Alberta in 20 sports such as hockey, badminton, gymnastics, skiing and skating.

Hockey Alberta coordinates the ice hockey portion of the Winter Games, as a core segment of its Development Program. The Winter Games provide players, coaches, trainers and referees an opportunity to discover the great qualities of competitive hockey starting with the zone camp and selection process, through to competing in the Games.